So Much More
by filesfreak4life
Summary: When something happens to Lorelai, Luke has to assure her that she deserves so much more... JavaJunkie all the way! Another Update so QUICK!
1. He was There

Title: So Much More

Author: Filesfreak4life

Disclaimer: I'm poor, so even if you did sue me, you probably wouldn't get anything… and you'd also be depriving the children of tomorrow from a teacher cause that's what I'm studying to be...so there you have it!

She entered the diner, gently placed her purse on the counter, and plopped into the closest stool.

"I'm assuming you want to take year off your life?"

All she did was nod a bit. There was going to be no banter today about her healthy eating habits, so he grabbed a mug and put it in front of her, filling it to the brim.

A few minutes later, she stands up from her seat, still not saying a word. As she is placing some change on the counter, he comes up behind her to place his hand on her shoulder. She turns around and meets his gaze.

"Lorelai..." he says with a questioning whisper.

Without a word, she places a hand on his chest, and another over her mouth to catch the small gasp that escaped, and tears welled up in her eyes. He springs into action, grabbing her hand to lead her upstairs.

"Ceaser, I'll be back in a bit!" he screams, and then leans down to Lorelai's ear, "Come on, let's go upstairs."

As they enter the apartment he stops her, and turns her body to face his. Until now, he hadn't noticed that she was hiding her face, avoiding a look in his eyes. He tipped her chin up to look at her, and she crumbled.

Minutes go by as he holds her limp body, sobbing against him. She still won't look at him as he continues to rub circles on her back.

"Lorelai, you have to tell me what happed. I can't help if you don't tell me..."

He waited until she was just reduced to silent tears before talking again. "Lorelai?" he says, still whispering.

She shakes her head in response.

"Lorelai, look at me, talk to me."

As she looked up at him, and pushed her hair behind her ear, he winced. Growing on her left jawline was a welt that had to have been from a pretty heated blow.

"Oh my God, what happened?" he said while tilting her face to better examine her injury.

"Luke...I" was all she could get out before breaking down again.

"Lorelai, how did this happen? Who did this?" he said, trying to stay calm, but really wanting to go kill whoever did this.

Sniffing, she replied, "Jason…um…he…"

"I thought that you two were over"

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us" she answers with something between a laugh and a scoff.

He waited patiently for her to get her bearings, and continued to hold on to her loosely.

"He just came to the house earlier this morning, and I told him that I was too busy to talk, and really had nothing to say to him. So, I went to the Dragonfly to do more work on the decorating, not thinking about it at all. When I got back to the house, his car was still there, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I got into the house, and was playing my messages when all the sudden he was there."


	2. Ike and Tina

Earlier in the evening...

"Jason, what they hell are you doing in my house?"

"Lorelai, we need to talk!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm done talking to you Jason, I told you that we were done."

"Lorelai, we're meant to be together...can't you see that? It's right!" he says taking a step closer to her.

"Jason, you need to leave..."

"Lorelai, if I hadn't sued your father, you and I would still be hot and heavy as I recall. We were doing great!" Taking the final steps between them, he grabs onto her waist.

Pushing his hands off her hips, she replies sarcastically, "well, we all know what happened now don't we?"

Grabbing onto her arm, he commands. "Damn it, Loreali, quit the sarcasm. I know you want this to."

"No Jason, I don't, in fact I'm pretty damn sure that I told you that! What I do want is you to get out of my house!" she says raising her voice.

Still holding onto her tightly, with fire in his eyes, he says with a forceful whisper, "I'm not leaving until we make up."

"No, you're leaving right now..." she says with the same tone, trying to pull away from him, but failing.

As his grip on her arm tightened, she knew that this evening had taken another turn for the worse, and this wasn't a situation she cared to be in. Trying again, to pull away, she put a hand on his chest and pushed him. Getting even more agitated with her, he came at her with a fist in the air.

She looked up at him from the ground, forced there by his blow, and with a scowl told him that he needed to leave, which he answered with an attempt to apologize.

"Lorelai, Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I don't know how that happened. I'm sorry, please-"

"Jason, get out of this house now, or I will call someone to come over here and take you out."

"I understand that you're upset, but please, talk to me about this."

"You think that I'm going to talk to you? After you pull an Ike and Tina on me, you expect me to sit down, and have a little chat? Screw you Jason, and get the HELL out of my house!"

He starts to say something else, but is met with a cold gaze from her, and stops short. Quickly turning on his heels, he makes his way to the door, and slams it shut on the way out.

Not until she hears the car start and tires leave the driveway, does she allow herself to break down. _I need to get out of here. I need to go tell someone. I need to... I can't believe that just happened._

As the tears fell, she hugged herself on the floor in the entryway, not wanting to move just yet. After a few more minutes, she grabs her keys and walks the familiar route to Luke's.

_I'll tell Luke about it. How do I tell Luke about this? He'll probably go kill Jason, which might not be a bad idea, at least for me...Luke would end up in jail._

She gets to the front door and instantly freaks out about what to do. It's late, so there aren't many people, and Ceasar is finishing up his only late shift of the week. She doesn't see Luke yet, so she sits down at the counter, not looking up, for fear that the blow to her face is slowly starting to show.

"I'm assuming you want to take years off your life?"

_And this is where we left off at the start of the fic! Woohoo! R/R Please, and hopefully I'll be able to make the fic into some great Java Junkie action!_


	3. Luke, I Need You

He was staring at her with wide eyes, not certain just what to say.

"Luke, you don't have to say anything...I need to sort through this."

"Lorelai, you don't need to sort through anything...we're calling the cops."

"No! Luke, that's the LAST thing that I want to do right now."

"Lorelai, you are probably the bravest, strongest person I know, and I won't let you start to make excuses for him or let him get away with this."

"I'm not letting him get away with it...I don't want to deal with it like that. After that little escapade, I don't think that he's going to come around anymore."

Again, tilting her face so he can see the bruise forming, he caresses her cheek, "and what if he does Lorelai?" he says, then burying his face in his hands, frustrated at the world.

"Lorelai, this could have turned out so much worse...he could have...and...I don't know what I..." he says while shaking his head slowly.

_He's right. It could have ended so much worse than this, so much worse._

With these thoughts, her eyes start to well up again.

"I'm sorry Lorelai, I didn't meant to...ah hell..." he gathers her up again, "I was just thinking in my head how bad this could have been, and how bad it can get. Lorelai, you need to tell someone about this"

"You're someone..." she said with a small laugh.

"Well, I meant someone that has a badge and a gun and couldn't get arrested really for beating the crap out of this guy... I mean, I could do it, but then you'd die from lack of caffeine while I was in jail, and the world as we know it would end."

"Luke Danes, you have such a way with words."

He smiles at her and releases his hold.

"yeah, well, I try you know. Are you okay now? Can I get you anything?"

"umm...no I don't think so."

"Well, I...Ceasar has to..."

"Go. Don't worry about me, I'll clean myself up and be back down to annoy you in a minute.

"Well, it give me something to look forward to."

As he reached the door, he was stopped with the sound of her voice, "Luke?"

"yeah?" he replies, turning to face her.

"Thank you."

"eh, don't worry about it. I told you I was always here."

She smiles at his retreating form. _It's true. He's always been the one to get me out of the toughest binds, always there to lend an ear or a shoulder._

As he gets down to the diner, Ceaser is waiting expectantly. "Everything okay there boss?"

"yeah, everything's fine. You can go home Ceaser. Thanks for staying a little longer tonight."

"No problem."

Ceaser leaves the diner quickly, on his way home for the night, and Luke notices the lack of people in the Diner. Thankful for that, he is left alone to his thoughts. _I should find him and kill him is what I should do. How could anyone allow that to happen? Not Lorelai, no, she did what she could to get him to leave, but Jason. I've never understood that... if you love someone that much, then why would you hurt them? I hope she's going to be okay...I know she'll beat herself up about this for a while._

"Hey Luke?" she says with a bit of cheer in her voice.

"yes?"

She pushes her coffee cup towards him, "Can I take a few more off?"

"You know, if I didn't lo… uh.. " _Crap...that was smooth. _"If I didn't know you that well, and I didn't like you so much, I sure wouldn't know what to do with you."

_What the heck was that? What was he going to say before he turned sheet white and then bright red? There is no way that Luke Danes was going to tell me that he loved me...was there?_

"I take back the comment about you having a way with words..."

"Funny."

"Yeah, well, call me Lucy. Can I get it to go?"

"You sure you'll be okay goin home?"

"Yeah, I will be." She smiled as he hands her a to go cup full of her favorite poison.

"Lorelai, if you need anything, you call me, okay?"

"I will Luke...again, Thanks."

He watches her walk as far as he can, not knowing how well he was going to sleep knowing what happened before.

The next morning at the Girls' house

_This sucks. I'm still wired, and it's..._ she looks up at her alarm clock… _It's already like 9AM! I've been tossing and turning all night long._

As she lays in bed in frustration from lack of sleep, she hears a car door slam. Thinking that it is Rory coming from Yale, worried about her after the phone call she gave last night, she goes to her window to double check. Sitting in her driveway is a familiar car, but not Rory's.

She rushes over to the phone, and dials the all too familiar number quickly.

"_Lukes?"_

"Luke, I need you right now... please!"

_oooh… don't you love cliffhangers… so tell me what you want to happen next. Should Luke kick some ass? Maybe he'll call the cops? Maybe he and Jason will sit down for a nice talk about the woman that they love? hmmm... we shall see soon!_


	4. What You Deserve

"Lane, call the cops and tell them to get over to Lorelai's NOW!"

"Luke, what..."

"No Questions! Do it!" he screams back at her, running out of the diner as fast as he could.

_All she said was that she needed me, but I know why. He was there...I could feel it._

As he gets closer to the house, he hears screaming and banging. As he turned the corner, he sees Jason pounding on her door, screaming her name and telling her to come down.

"Luke, what's going on?" Says Babette quietly as Luke comes around the corner.

"Don't worry Babette, I've got a handle on this."

"You go Kick his Ass! You get your girl!" she says, punching her fist into the air.

_Huh? Lorelai is not my girl...not that it isn't something that I wanted, but she is most... okay 3..2..1 focus Luke!_

"Lorelai, COME ON! It was a mistake, and I came back to reconcile! Please!" Jason screams up at her window.

As Luke glances up, he doesn't see her up there, and opts to make his presence known before Jason does something else stupid.

"You're damn right it was a mistake! You've got some nerve showing your face by this house again buddy." Luke says with a steady voice.

"Lorelai, You're kidding me! Is this why you dumped me? For him? What the hell are you thinking, I thought it was just a crush!"

"Jason, I think you need to calm down."

"Don't talk to me like you know me _buddy_" he says mocking Luke "I didn't know that you had it in you to help her cheat on me"

"She didn't cheat on you, she and I aren't dating Jason."

"Like hell you aren't! Why would she call you over here then, if not to be her night in shining armor?"

"Look, man, you need to calm down."

"I'll show you calm down you ass!" he screams, running off the porch and down to Luke.

"I would suggest you stop before the cops get here..."

Jason stops just short of swinging at Luke. "You wouldn't dare...don't you know who I am?"

"Do you want to call my bluff and risk it?"

Jason opens his mouth just before he sees the Stars Hallow cop car pulling into the driveway.

"What seems to be the problem here Luke?"

"He's harassing her, banging on her door, and screaming like he owns the place." Luke says, pointing to Jason.

"Well, Luke, it's not your property, so only Lorelai can press charges here."

"I'll…" he gestures to the house.

"Allright, now I'll sit here and talk to Mr...?"

"Stiles, Jason Stiles."

As Luke leaves them, he goes quickly into the house, knowing where the spare key is under the turtle on the porch.

"Lorelai?" he says traveling through the foyer, and heading towards the stairs.

He spots her on the bed curled up into a tight ball, and runs into the room. Sitting down next to her, he places a hand on her back, and softly whispers "hey, are you okay?"

"No...does it look like I'm okay? Aren't you Captain Obvious with the line of questioning? I have a welt on my face the size of frickin Texas, because I screwed up in choosing the guy I'm with. There are police on my front lawn because that said guy showed up the day after he hit me to try and make up...Luke I think I'm pretty far from okay...if fact I'm pretty sure that I need to be committed."

"Lorelai, excuse me, but what the hell are you talking about?"

"Me! I sure know how to pick em and screw up don't I, Luke? I'm the running town joke! They were all waiting for this to happen. Let's see, I got pregnant when I was sixteen and ran from the father of my child. I threw away a perfect engagement to a perfect man. I pick out someone who seems to be a great guy, and rub him the wrong way and now I feel like he's trying to kill me. I…"

"Lorelai, stop!"

"Why? Don't you want to hear the rest of my credentials for my application as world's biggest screw up?"

"Lorelai Gilmore, you are many things, but a screw up isn't one of them. This is your parents talking, not you."

"Luke –" she gets out, trying to stop him, but is interrupted quickly by the starting of one of his rants.

"You may think that these things are your fault Lorelai, but they aren't. All of these things are so skewed in your head. So, shut up and let me tell you how I see it…" he pauses, waiting for a reaction from her that didn't come. "Yes, you got pregnant at sixteen, but instead of a copout marriage, you chose to brave parenthood on your own, and formed a wonderful, beautiful, smart young woman, your daughter. It's Chris' loss that he wasn't involved in that. That is not a screw up. Max, was not perfect, far from it in fact, because if it was me, I would have fought for you the whole way. He didn't give you enough that you deserve. And this guy Jason. Lorelai, believe me when I say that man did not become this because of anything that you did. He's got other problems that probably no one knows about that would make him do this. The way I see it, you haven't screwed up Lorelai, everyone else has. You have always deserved more...so much more." he says, shaking his head, and looking down to his hands, which found themselves folded in his lap.

"Luke, you…I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything to me, but please go down there and press charges against this guy, he was the screw up Lorelai, NOT you."

She nods, stands up and heads to the front yard, now looking as if she was on a mission. _I can't believe that he said all of those things to me. I never knew that he felt that way, and he's right. I do blame myself for everything, which again my parents in me, and not myself. I'm going to do it. I'm going to let everyone know what Jason Stiles is. After that, I think I need to talk to a certain flannel and backwards baseball cap wearing man about what he's been holding back._

_So, I decided that while it would have been fun to see Luke kick Jason's ass, that Luke is a bigger man than him, and shouldn't have to fight to prove it. I threw the Jason jealous of Luke thing in there just for a bit of fun... this is my first GG fic, and I appreciate all of the enthusiasm, THANKS! We shall see where this will lead? A kiss? Maybe more? Who knows? well...I do...at least I will...okay, now I'm rambling!_


	5. I'm Good

"Luke?" she says entering the house after talking to the police, and seeing Jason be hauled off in handcuffs.

She spots him as she gets further into the house, sitting up on the couch, with his head back and his eyes closed. He was obviously exhausted from the activities this morning, so she sits carefully beside him, laying her hand on his thigh.

"Luke?" she whispers.

"huh? yeah?" he says coming out of it, and letting her face come into focus. "What happened, are they taking him in?"

"Yeah, I pressed charges for him coming here and basically trying to break in and also talked to them about what happened last night, which solidly put him in the big house at least until his father can come up with bail."

"That's good…are you okay?"

"Yes, and Luke, thank you for coming so quickly… I was so scared that he was going to try something else, and I didn't know what I could do, so I called you."

"Just as I told you to Lorelai, so don't worry about it."

They sit there for a while close on the couch, her hand still on his thigh from waking him. They were comfortable in their silence, but both appeared to be deep in thought.

"You would fight for me?"

"What, who? Jason? Yeah, I probably would have if the opportunity came up, but I thought that him in jail would be better than me in jail, so I backed down on that thought."

"No, that's not what I meant Luke…you said that if you had been Max, you would have fought for me?"

"Well, yeah, I would"

"Why?"

As she turns up to meet his glance, all color seems to drain out of his face, not in a way suggesting that he was sick, but telling her that he didn't exactly know how to get the next words out of his mouth.

_Should we be having this conversation? I don't think that I can talk to her about stuff like this…I was supposed to instigate this, and it was supposed to be romantic, and we were supposed to have had a date before we got into the serious talks. There was never the time though, between Nicole and Jason, and that Alex guy… shoot, you could probably go all the way back to that idiot Max guy with this too. And now she's looking at me, and sitting there as beautiful as she can be, and some guy has hurt her again, and she wonders why I would fight for her?_

"Lorelai, why not?"

"No, seriously Luke, why, there has to be a reason for you to say that…hell, for you to say all those-"

"Yes, there's a reason!" he says starting to raise his voice. "Lorelai, I have watched guy after guy, no offense… hurt you. I couldn't take it, and I stood idly by, letting you tell me story after story about how these people broke your heart, and how you wanted the whole package. Each time, I thought to myself that I could have done better for you than this parade of idiots…Rory is a great kid, and I can't stand that she didn't have her father around, and if she was my kid, you couldn't have kept me away if you tried. I understand that you ran from Max, but if he loved you enough, he would have come after you, and if he knew you enough, he would have realized that you were just scared and running out of reflex, like you always do.."

"Luke…"

"No, let me finish. This Jason guy too, when I think about what could have happened here, and what he could have done, it scares the crap out of me, because the thought of losing you scares the crap out of me. I know that we aren't the closest two people in the world, but I consider you to be one of my closest friends in this stupid town or anywhere for that matter, and I'm sick of you not getting what you deserve, which is someone who knows you, loves you for who you are, listens to your rants, lends you a shoulder when you need it, helps you raise your daughter, doesn't leave you-"

"You."

"Supports everything that you do, accepts…what did you say?"

"It's you…all these years everyone has said that you had a thing for me, and I brushed it off. They all thought the world was going to end because I had to tell you that I was marrying Max, and they all used me to get to you for anything. I started thinking in the back of my head it was true that you had a thing for me all these years, and Luke, is it true?"

"No…I haven't had a thing for you all these years…"

"oh" she says, blushing and looking everywhere but his face…embarrassed at her insinuation.

"Lorelai? " he questions, grabbing her chin so he can see her face. "I haven't had a things for you all these years, no, but I can say that…" he blows air out of his mouth, and takes a deep breath, "that I've loved you all of these years"

She smiles, and leans forward so their lips meet.

_Oh, he's good. Declaration of love and then a great kiss, what more can a girl ask for? Oh my God, this is great…it's like we've done this for years. He's perfect, and this is big, and this is going to be a good thing._

_If someone had given me a guarantee that when I told Lorelai Gilmore that I loved her, that she would kiss me like this, I would have done it years ago. She's perfect, and this is going to be a great thing, I think this could be a forever thing, but I'll keep that to myself._

The newfound couple is completely unaware of their surroundings, focusing on each other, and exploring this new side of their relationship. Sitting side by side on the couch has turned into his body pressing hers into the cushions below as they continue to relish in each other's kisses.

"Mom!" Rory screams as she runs through the open door into the house, "Where are-" she stops, as she sees Luke frantically scrambling off of her mother.

Luke's face becomes instantly crimson as he turns away from Rory, and Lorelai quickly sits up to face her daughter.

"Umm…hi…let's go chat" she says, getting off the couch and dragging Rory into the kitchen.

"How long has this been going on!" Rory says with an excited voice.

"How long have we been horizontal on the couch, or how long for the whole me and Luke thing?"

"The not Dirty one…"

"Well then, about two seconds before the dirty."

"What happened?"

"Well, Jason came by this morning, and I woke up because I heard a car door, and I went to the window to check, because I thought it was you, but it wasn't you, and it was Jason's car, so I called Luke, and he came over and he called the cops, and now Jason is in jail, and wait…why are you here?" she says, suddenly realizing that it is the middle of the week and her daughter is away from school.

"Lane called me and said that Luke screamed at her to have the cops come over here and went running out of the diner, so I panicked and came as fast as I could."

"Oh hon, you didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did!" she says.

Luke walks into the kitchen a few seconds later, scratching his head, and still refusing to look Rory in the eye. "uh… I think I'm gonna head out. I left Lane at the diner by herself, and she's probably freaking out, so I'll uh.. talk to you later." he says, and then turns to walk out of the kitchen.

"Luke?" Lorelai says, getting up and walking him to the door.

"What is it?"

She leans in and gives him another quick kiss.

"We're going to try this, okay?"

"We are?"

"Yeah, and you know why?"

"No, why?"

"Because all those years, I really did want to believe them" she says with a giggle, and pulls him into an embrace.

Rory watches her mother and Luke from the hall, peeking around the corner. _I knew it was going to happen eventually. He really is perfect for her, and he is always the one who has been there for us the most. _She hears another giggle, and watches as he pulls her in for another kiss. _And she's happy, so I'm good._

_Again... how should this go people? Please R&R... I've been loving all the feedback... sorry it took so long for the update too... I've been moving back home!_


	6. Daddies

Friday Night (That night)

"Can you see it? Did I cover it okay?"

"Yeah, mom, I don't think they'll notice at all… you'll be fine."

"Okay, I just don't really want to talk about it, but knowing them, they probably already know all about it."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because they are the Gilmores, who know everyone and everything. All their snotty friends are in the same loop, which also has Jason's dad in it…get the picture."

"yeah, well, come on, let's forget about Jason for a while." Rory says, while ringing the doorbell at the Gilmore Mansion.

"Rory! Lorelai! Come on in!" says Emily, a lot more exuberant than normal.

"Woah… mom… you've been sniffing waay to much crack today!"

"Oh, don't be silly Lorelai, I'm just in a good mood."

"Well, that's good… isn't it good mom." Interjects Rory before her mother can make another snippy comment.

"Where's dad?"

"He is in his study, working on something for a presentation tomorrow. He said that he would be out for dinn-"

"EMILY!" Richard screams from his study.

"Good God Richard, what is wrong with you!" She says, standing up, and heading in the direction of the study, only to find Richard running out to meet her.

"Are they-" he starts to question before seeing Rory and Lorelai sitting on the couch.

He walks over to the girls who stand up to face him with questioning looks. Turning to Lorelai, he moves the hair from the left side of her face, passing a light touch over her covered welt. She flinches slightly, pulling back from his hand, and trying to not meet his eyes.

"It's true?"

With a glance up, tears form in her eyes, and Richard clenches his fists.

"I'll kill him, that damn Jason Stiles! I swear to God I'll kill him"

"Richard, what are you talking about!" screams Emily, not knowing what to make of the scene.

"He hit her! The bastard actually laid a hand on our daughter!"

"Who… Jason?"

She turns to Lorelai with a judging glance, "I thought you told me that you broke up! You were still seeing him, and you didn't tell me!"

"Mom…"

"Don't mom me! You lied to us again!"

"Grandma…"

"No, I don't understand this Lorelai, how can you—"

"How can I? Oh that's rich mother!" she stands up and picks up her purse, preparing to leave. "I'm not seeing Jason, I wasn't seeing him anymore. He snuck into my house and told me that I was making a big mistake by leaving him, and that we were meant to be together…let's see… after that he decided to scream at me, while pulling at my arm, and when I pushed him away, he hit me! So there you have it, that's my healthy relationship that I wasn't telling you about…" she walks out of the house in tears, leaving everyone else stiff and silent.

"Lorelai!" She shouts a few moments later.

"Emily Gilmore, you stop right there…I cannot believe that upon hearing that you blame her… don't you see how bad this could have been? I know that man's temper Emily, and we should be thankful that she's okay." he says, turning on his heels and retreating back to his study.

"Rory?"

"I have to leave…I'm sorry Grandma, but I need to go find mom."

IN THE CAR ON THE DRIVE TO STARS HALLOW

Through her tears, she manages to dial the all familiar number, "Luke"

"Lorelai, are you okay?"

"It's Friday night, am I ever okay on Friday night?"

"It's too early for dinner to be done, what happened?"

"I don't… I don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to find out if you were home…I…I wanted to know if you could come be with me tonight, at least until I calm down?"

"How far away are you?"

"About 5 minutes or so…"

"I will meet you there."

"Thanks Luke."

"Nah, forget about it…"

She smiles for the first time that evening and closes her cell phone.

AT THE GIRLS'

He is just getting out of his truck as she pulls up next to him.

"Hey" he says, walking around to greet her.

"Luke…I…"

"Come on, let's go inside."

Inside the house, they curled up on the couch, with him holding her close as she continued to cry silent tears. She wasn't about to say anything for fear that saying it out loud would bring it all flooding back with even more vengeance.

He rubbed small circles on her back while resting his chin on her hair. _She needs to sleep is what she needs. It has been such a long day, with lots and lots of emotion. At least we know where we are now._ He smiles at the thought of the good that came out of what happened, and continues to stroke her back as he holds her to him.

OUTSIDE

_I didn't think that she would call him so soon._ She pulls up to the house to see Luke's truck parked next to her mom's Jeep. She slowly makes her way up the front porch, and glances quickly into the living room front window, stopping still at what she sees.

_Maybe I'll just call her in the morning…Luke seems to have things under control. God… what took them so long? _She thinks, shaking her head, and turning to get back in her car. _I am so glad that they finally figured it out, or at least mom did. I think Luke knew all along that he was in love with her…he just couldn't admit it to her. It really is funny when you think about it, because those two have always been the lonely type, and I know that mom has always wanted that loneliness to go away. She wanted to be in love, find someone who loves just who she is, and understands her. I imagine that Luke wanted the same all these years too. You would think that they would have seen what was under their noses a lot sooner._

Rory puts her car in gear and heads back towards New Haven for the weekend, figuring that her mom and Luke needed some time to get to know each other.

ELDER GILMORE RESIDENCE

_I can't believe that man had the guts to do that. I know that I may be overreacting to this a bit, but I still can't imagine that…and the look in her eyes when she realized that I knew. It broke my heart, because she was embarrassed. She didn't want to look her own father in the eye. Couldn't she tell that I wasn't upset at her, but at Jason? And then, damn that Emily and her mouth, telling Lorelai that she was a liar, and being upset with Lorelai for something so stupid that wasn't even true._

Richard sits at his desk, deep in thought, tapping a pencil against his desk.

With a sudden movement, he stands up and heads out the door. _I have to make sure that she's okay. I want to know that she's okay._

THE GIRLS'

Lorelai was finally asleep on Luke's chest, breathing slowly and evenly under his watchful gaze. Suddenly, he heard a light tapping on the door, and carefully got out from underneath her, heading to answer the door.

_Who the hell would come here this late?_

Opening the door, he comes face to face with a man that he has only seen a few times before, and not remembering if they had been formally introduced.

"Mr. Gilmore? Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, uh… Luke isn't it? Aren't you the gentleman that owns the diner in town that girls are always raving about?"

"Same. Is there something that I can do for you sir?"

"I… Well, I wanted to make sure that Lorelai was okay."

He was a bit taken back by the concern shown in the old man's face. Knowing the history between Lorelai and her father, he knew that the fact that he had come here was a big deal.

"Um… yeah, sure. She was shaken up when she got home… almost as much as this morning."

"This morning?"

"She called me to get Jason away, and I had to convince her to talk to the police."

_Obviously this dinerman, Luke, has a way with my daughter. _Richard thinks as he glances at Luke from head to toe, sizing him up. _He seems genuine in his concern for Lorelai, and he's obviously someone that she depends on._

"Thank you Luke."

"What?"

"Thank you for being here for her. I don't know exactly what Lorelai has told you about us, but I'm sure that you can come up with a few colorful words to say to my wife and myself. I'm grateful that you could be here when she needed someone."

"Dad?" says a groggy Lorelai, walking to the door in her now rumpled dress from the evening.

"Lorelai. I was just coming to see how you were."

"Did you bring mom?" she says with a squint to her eye.

"Of course not, I'm probably just as angry at that woman as you are."

She looks up and smiles, shocked that she and her father shared something.

"Well, what are you doing here?"

"I… I just wanted to make sure that you were okay…are you?"

She was taken back by the concern in her father's voice. "uh… yeah, I'll be okay." she says allowing a small silence to settle in the room.

"Hey, I'm going to go get some food, okay? You must be hungry" says Luke, breaking the silence and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, get me the usual."

"Heart attack with a side of cholesterol?"

"You got it babe!" she says, stretching up to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

He automatically turns crimson at the gesture, looking in the direction of Richard, asking him if he would like anything while he was going.

"No, Luke. Thank you though, I do appreciate it."

"Oh, no problem… uh… I'll be back in a bit then."

With that he walks out behind Richard, leaving father and daughter behind.

"Come on in dad." she says, gesturing down the hall to the living room.

"Well alright then."

Stepping in front of her, he makes his way to the couch, sitting down while nervously playing with his tie. He shifts uncomfortably as Lorelai sits down beside him.

"You drove all the way from Hartford to make sure that I was okay?"

"Well of course I did."

She doesn't respond, but nods her head in acknowledgement.

"Lorelai, I want you to know that we're going to fight on this… only if you want to… but we will fight on this. He had no right to come barging in here."

"I know that dad, I just… didn't want to blow this up."

Putting his hand on her knee, he finally gets the courage to look up, meeting her eyes. "I know, Lorelai. I want you to know though, that I'm here for you."

"Thank you." she says, her mind racing with emotions. _I don't think that I've ever seen him like this, so concerned. We've never really dealt with each other, always stepping around it, trying to avoid anything emotional at all costs between the two of us. I don't think I ever really had a problem with my father though, Emily yes, but not him. He has been a quiet figure all these years, never really saying what he was thinking... _

"You are planning on pressing charges aren't you?"

At this, she smiles, remembering a similar conversation from this morning with a certain flannel wearing individual.

"What?" he says, confused by the expression on her face.

"Nothing… you and Luke would get along nicely."

"Why?"

"He was trying to convince me to do the same this morning when he came over to get Jason to go away."

"Hmm.. I see. So… Luke?"

"What about Luke?"

"He seems like a nice man."

"Probably the nicest."

"Is he the reason you broke up with Jason?"

"Oh, no! I broke up with Jason because he was suing you, that didn't have anything to do with Luke."

"So how recent is this then?"

"Well… honestly, this morning was our first step, if you could see it that way."

"Really?"

"Yes, really…"

"You two seem good together. He takes care of you, and obviously seems to be here at the drop of the hat if this morning and tonight is any indication."

"Yeah, well, Luke has always been there for me. He is probably one of my closest friends here in town."

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know that we want you to be happy, your mom and I…"

"Dad, I know"

"No, let me finish. I know that your mother's version of you being happy is on her terms and her terms only, but I don't want you to think that I agree with that. We've had our moments or lack thereof over the years, and I want you to know that I am proud of what you've done with your life, and I do care about you."

_Wow. Definite Kodak moment here. He just said that he was proud of me. I don't think that I've ever heard a compliment come from a Gilmore that was heartfelt and sincere._

A smile spreads across her face as she reaches out to him. He pulls her close, stroking her hair as she fits underneath his chin.

"Dad…I didn't ever think about how much I needed to hear that coming from you."

"Well, it was a long time coming Lorelai, a very long time."


	7. Spooning

"Lorelai?"

"I'm in the living room, Luke."

He walks into the living room sporting a paper bag from the dinner and sits down next to her on the couch, looking around for Richard's presence.

"Did your dad leave?"

"Yeah, he did" she says smiling.

"Are you guys okay? What happened?"

"We just talked… like we REALLY talked. I think that was the first time that I was having a conversation with my father where my smile was genuine and not forced."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing then…see a good thing came out of this whole situation."

"Well, now I wouldn't say that…" she pauses, looking at him setting out their food for the evening.

"Then what would you say?"

"I would say that two good things came out of this… situation."

He looks up at her and a blush creeps up his face. It's then that he chooses to wrap his arms around her for the second time that night. "I would have to agree with you on that one…definitely."

She pulls back from the embrace, looking up at him smiling.

"So, my dad said that he is going to take care of everything, and hopefully I won't have to make an appearance."

"That's good, I'm glad that he could help you out." he says, breaking out of his dreamy state, and back into the real world.

A few minutes later, their food finished, the two sit side by side on the couch, enjoying a comfortable silence in each other's company.

"Luke…"

"Yeah?"

"What are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this…" she attempts to gesture in her tired state. "What do we want from this?"

"Do you really want an answer from me, or is your inner monologue making another appearance?"

"I don't know, I think that I do."

"I want everything…"

"Oh." she says, shocked, but still at ease by his admission.

"yeah, well, I've had the time to think"

"Man, all those years, wasted."

"I agree."

"Luke?"

"What?"

"I want to take this slow…okay…make it different…"

"That's fine by me."

"Okay…" she says, her eyelids fading by the minute. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Sleep?"

"Uh huh"

And with that, she curls up against him, as they fall into a comfortable slumber.

THE NEXT MORNING

Sookie shut the door to the minivan and started to make her way up the porch in the mid-morning sun. _Man, do I suck as a best friend. She was going through all of this stuff, and I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. I know that she said that she was okay, but come on… she can't be that okay. That guy was such a jerk. I hope that she's okay. She's probably still sleeping._ As she got to the front door, she took out the extra key that Lorelai had given her for emergencies and used it to let herself inside. Her arms were loaded down with bags to aid her in making a feel better breakfast for her friend. She slowly made her way through the living room and into the kitchen, oblivious to the world as she put her bags down on the table. _I should probably go upstairs and see if she's still sleeping. I'm sure she is though, cause these past few days sure have been eventful._ She makes her way up to Lorelai's empty bedroom, and furrows her brow, with a questioning look around the room. _Well where is she? Ah, Rory's room! She always crawls in with her when she's upset._

As she makes her way down the stairs, she jumps at the sight in front of her. A very comfortable Luke Danes has his arms around a very content-looking Lorelai Gilmore. _Oh my God. Oh my God. OH man. Oh man. OH. Wow. Oh! Oh man! That's Luke. That's Lorelai. That's Luke and Lorelai, and their sleeping…together…in each other's arms. _She steps down from the stairs and makes her way closer to the sleeping pair. _Look at them…perfect. What the hell took them so long?_

Shaking her head and silently clapping her hands together, in true Sookie fashion, she goes back into the kitchen, retrieves her bags and heads back outside to her van.

Hearing the car start outside, a sleepy Lorelai opens her eyes to the bright morning sun shining into her living room. Feeling the heavy weight of a very masculine arm around her waist, she smiles, scooting even closer into his embrace.

"You're awake?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm awake… conscious yes, but awake might be a stretch."

He leans his head down to kiss the hair at the top of her head, squeezing her closer in the process.

"This is nice…"

"Yeah, it really is."

"We should get up you know."

"Yeah, I know. People to see, things to do, planets to save… it's a normal day."

He chuckles at that, "Man, I don't know how I'm going to be able to deal with you on a daily basis."

"Luke, you already do deal with me on a daily basis."

"huh, I guess you're right…"

"Only this time, while you're dealing with my incessant need for coffee and my weird menu doodling habits, you're also dealing with the hour and a half to get ready for a date and hogging the covers."

"Well I hope I get some fun out of this relationship too."

"Dirty!"

"What! Oh, yeah, I guess that deserved a dirty…"

"Come on, let's go get some breakfast."

"At the diner?"

"Where else?"

"I don't know…I don't think that I'm ready to face the prying eyes of Stars Hallow yet."

"Oh…well, then I guess that I'll have to bring Luke's to you then." He says, sitting up and clapping hi hands together.

"No, Luke, you don't have to. I think I'll just call Sookie, and see if she'll come over. I think that she and I are in need of a regroup after the events of the past few days. Knowing Babette, the whole town knows the story, and Sookie is probably freaking out that she hasn't been here for me or something like that."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Maybe I'll come by later tonight though, or I'll call you and you can come hang out here?"

"That sounds good." He says, leaning down to kiss her on the couch. Putting his shoes on, he gives her another kiss good bye and is off to the diner for a long days work.

"Hey doll!" Babette yells from her porch on the other side of the yard.

"Oh, uh hey Babette!"

"Didn't see or hear your truck leave last night Luke, you stay the night?"

"Well, uh…" he says, getting thirteen different shades of red while trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't be construed as dirty. "Lorelai's still a bit spooked about staying in the house by herself, so I slept on the couch just to make her feel better." _See, I don't even have to lie about it. I did sleep on the couch. The added bonus of doing so meant that I had a gorgeous woman curled up with me on said couch. _He smiles at the thought.

Babette's face fell, not satisfied with the could-be gossip. "Oh, well, you're a good man for doing it Luke."

"Thanks Babette, I'll see ya later."

With that said, he gets in his truck and heads off to the diner with a smile on his face after misdirecting Babette and having a peaceful night's sleep with the woman he adores.

INSIDE THE HOUSE

Lorelai searches for the phone, and finding it, plops back down on the couch, still warm from their sleeping forms. She dials Sookie's number quickly, and waits for the pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sookie, it's me."

"Oh hey Lorelai! How are… things?"

"Well, you know… hey listen, I was wondering if you wanted to come over and we could make breakfast… well you could make breakfast and I could be your sideline cheerleader. I wanted to recap you on the whole Jason thing so you know what happened and not the soap opera version that I'm sure is going around right now."

"Sure, I've already got the stuff ready. I'll be there in a few minutes?"

"Uh, yeah, sure…"

She lays back down on the couch, relishing in its warmth and the scent that is distinctly his that still floats through the surrounding air. Slowly, she lets her eyes drift closed, and falls back asleep.

"Lorelai?"

A confused Lorelai wakes up from her fifteen-minute nap, and slowly sits up.

"Sookie, I thought that it would take you longer than that."

"I had everything ready from this morning…so I just had to get Davey cleaned up and off to Jackson, and then I headed over here."

"What do you mean from this morning?"

"Yeah… you were a bit distracted to notice me… well not so much distracted, but asleep…"

"Oh, how long were you outside before you figured out that I was asleep?"

Pulling out her key, Sookie flashes it in front of Lorelai. "Remember this?"

"No."

"Well, it's the key that you gave me to the front door. I wasn't outside for very long at all…In fact, since I thought that you were already sleeping, I figured that I would wake you up with breakfast…"

As Sookie continues her recap of this morning, Lorelai feels her face becoming slightly paler than usual, not knowing how to react to what Sookie saw. _Well, she didn't really see anything, but I'm pretty sure that our secret is out now._

"and then… I remembered that when you're scared, you like to bunk with Rory, so I made my way downstairs, and low and behold, on the couch is none other than you and Mr. Backwards Baseball Cap looking mighty comfy!"

"Sookie…"

"When were you going to tell me?" Sookie says, jumping up and down with excitement as her voice rose in pitch to a near squeal.

"It just happened… we were going to wait for a bit to bring it out in the open."

"So a few weeks then?"

"Umm… no… not a few weeks."

Starting to get a hurt look on her face, Sookie asks, "You've been seeing him longer than a few weeks and you didn't tell me about it?"

"What! Sookie, no… we only started… this… whatever the hell this is, yesterday!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. When all that crap with Jason happened, Luke was there for me, and he said all of these wonderful things, and we were kind of forced into some realizations, but I can assure you that this is new."

"Wow…" she says, smiling a smile that says that she knows something that Lorelai doesn't.

"What?…"

"Nothing…"

"No, Sookie, say what's on your mind."

"It might be nothing, but when I came down those stairs, it sure looked like you guys had been together for a lot longer that a day."

"What do you mean?"

"Lorelai, how long have I known you?"

"I don't know, after I got past all the fingers and all the toes, I stopped counting."

"Yeah, a long time, right?" she says, nodding to Lorelai. "I have seen you with a few different characters in our time together, right?"

"Yes…Sookie, point?"

"This is it."

"What do you mean it… OH… like it it? Sookie, do you mean it it?" she says, almost becoming panicked. Sookie just stands in front of her best friend and nods. "Not yet, I'm not ready to think that yet."

"Okay, I just… Lorelai, you were so happy laying there with him, and you looked so perfect."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah."

Seeing that Lorelai was still in a bit of a freak out mode, Sookie started to cook, getting things out of the bags and pulling out pots and pans for the breakfast she had planned. A dumfounded Lorelai sat in the kitchen, half-listening as Sookie rambled off about the latest Davey milestones, and the hysterical tales of Jackson in the role of daddy. _Luke is it? Wow, I don't think that I thought of that before. No, I know I haven't thought of that before. I'm not ready to go there. I mean, yeah, we're "seeing each other" now, but it's still Luke. Diner Luke. Luke that yells at me for my unhealthy habits. Luke that rolls his eyes when I rant. Luke who comes running over when I scream into the phone. Luke who doesn't hesitate to sign a check over to me for $30,000. Luke who has just been Luke. Woah. That was big._

_So, I have no idea where I want this to go guys! I do totally want to say thank you sooooo much for all of the kind things that you've had to say. This is by far the coolest ever to have so many neat people reading! This is my first Gilmore Girls fic (I've written a few X-files ones), but seriously, all of the stuff you've had to say has been great! Let me know if you have any ideas as to where this can go… original stuff is oh so much fun! Anyways… thanks so much, and keep reading!_


	8. My it it

LATER AT LUKE'S DINER

It was habit that he glance up at the sound of the bell on the door, always looking to see if it was her. This glance was then rewarded with a smiling face walking towards the counter.

"Hey you!"

"Hey, I thought you weren't ready to meet the prying eyes of Stars Hallow?" he says, grabbing her a coffee cup and leaning in to whisper near her ear.

"Well, I figured that I had to face them somehow, right?" she replied, letting her eyes linger on him. _Well, that, and the fact that I had to see you. Yeah, definitely had to see you. Sookie was right… for the first time, I'm going to admit that I'm head over heels for him, moreso than anyone else. He was my it it._

Pouring her coffee, and quickly attending to the needs of a few customers in the diner, he came up behind her. "So what are your plans for the evening?"

"I don't know, what are _your_ plans for the evening?"

"I was thinking that I might rent a few movies, buy some junkfood, and sit in front of the tv all night."

"Hmmm… Junkfood… did I convert you?"

"No, that's not for me, if you get my hint."

"Oh, I see… you got a hot date coming over tonight?"

"Well, I don't know about hot, but certainly gorgeous."

At this, she turns around on her stool, not letting their eyes meet.

"What?"

"I can't believe that you don't think I'm hot! Soooo not fair! I think _you're_ hot" _Especially tonight. I can't believe I didn't see all of this before! To think that I was in the presence of a full blown hottie for quite some time, and I completely disregarded him._

"Lorelai?"

"Yes?"

"You're hot… trust me… you're very hot… I just wanted to use a more tasteful word to describe you."

"Aww, shucks Luke, thanks."

"So where did we land on tonight?"

"Well you have a hot date with some hot gorgeous chick… so I'm going to go home, put my pajamas on, and eat ice cream all night, while thinking about what could have been."

"All right… see you at 7 then?"

"I'll be waiting!" she says, hopping off the stool with a smile and heading to the door.

_This might seriously work. Me and Luke. Wow…I don't even know how to spin that around in my head, but Me and Luke… together. Wow._ With a small smile, she hops out of the dinner and walks the short distance back to her house.

Upon arriving, she sees the all familiar silver car sitting in the driveway, and makes her way up to the door.

"Rory, are you home?"

"Yeah, I'm in the living room!" she says, shouting from the couch.

Plopping down beside her daughter on the couch, she pulls her in for a quick embrace.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, we never did get to say goodbye last night, and I wanted to make sure that you were okay…I would have come earlier, but I had some last minute stuff to do so that I could stay here for the weekend."

"Oh… well, that's a good thing then! Why didn't you come back last night?"

"I did…uh…when I got back, I saw Luke's truck in the driveway, and saw the two of you through the front window. I figured that he had a handle on things, so I went back with the intention of coming to spend the rest of the weekend here with you."

"Yeah, I called him on the way home from the Grandparents, and he met me here."

"Well, he gets crisis points then…" she says, mock tallying up a point for Luke with her finger in the air.

"Yeah, he gets parent points too… Grandpa showed up."

"Really? Why? When?"

"Well, I fell asleep after awhile, and when I woke up, he was there, and…we talked. He told me that he was proud of me, and that what mom says isn't necessarily what he thinks…he just… he was a dad… you know?"

"Well…no, not really, but I get the picture." she says, recalling her own father's presence in her life.

"So… are you going to kill me if I tell you that Luke is going to come over and spoil our girls night?"

"Not at all, as long as he brings food!"

"Ah, the perks of dating a diner owner!"

With that, the girls settle in on the couch together, popping a movie in. It wasn't right though. With all that happened the past few days, Lorelai wasn't into movie quoting or bashing like she always was. After a while, realizing that the movie marathon wasn't really doing the trick with her mom, Rory decided to strike up another conversation.

"So… Luke?"

"What about him?" says Lorelai, conveniently allowing her eyes to stay glued to the television.

"Well, how is that turning out?"

"Well, what do you mean?"

"Leaving out the really dirty details, what are you thinking?"

"There aren't really any dirty details, Rory."

"No dirty details? So, you didn't pull a Bull Durham on the table in the kitchen?"

"WHAT! Where did you get that!"

"Oh come on, Sookie has always said that about you two! She's never mentioned it before? It's been her fantasy since… I don't know… probably two seconds after you met Luke and she saw the spark."

"The spark?"

"Again, mom… the town has known that the two of you were meant to be for quite some time now… you were both to stupid to realize it or act on it."

_That really is quite amusing when you think about it. I mean, I admitted to myself a long time ago that I wouldn't mind catching what was under the flannel exterior, but I know that I would NEVER admit that to anyone that has ever insinuated ANYthing between me and Luke. All those years though, I was harboring a tiny crush, not ever thinking that I would act on it, or that it would ever turn into real feelings. And now… well… see how that line of thinking turned out._

"Mom?"

Lorelai was still sitting beside her daughter deep in thought, oblivious to anything that was happening around her.

"Mom?"

"LORELAI VICTORIA GILMORE!"

Snapping out of her reverie, Lorelai jumped in her spot on the couch, "OH my gosh, WHAT?"

"What were you thinking about that required me to call your full name at the top of my lungs?"

"Luke."

"Wow… you've got it bad…"

"Yeah, I do kid, I do."

A ring of the doorbell breaks them from their mother daughter moment, and Lorelai glances toward the clock, realizing that it was actually past seven o'clock.

_So, I've been meaning to update all of these fics, and finally got around to it! woohoo! Anyways, I'm hoping that you're enjoying these little tidbits… I don't know exactly what is going to happen next, but hopefully it'll be good! Sorry this was a short one! R/R and I'll try to work faster this time!_


	9. The Movie Date

Lorelai got up and walked quickly to the door, opening it to reveal a not typically dressed Luke.

"Wow, you actually do own clothing that isn't flannel or jeans!"

"Yeah, I do, and most of it you bought for me, remember?" he says nodding.

"Ah, yeas, I do vaguely remember that I bought out Bloomingdales a while ago." she says giggling, and reaching up to give him a quick kiss.

"Okay you two, can we please watch the movie now!" Rory yells from the living room, where she has _Spaceballs_ cued up.

"yeah yeah, we're coming…" Lorelai replies, grabbing Luke by the wrist and forcing him to come with her into the living room.

"Hey Luke!"

"uh… hey Rory." he greets her with a nervous smile.

Lorelai watched this exchange amused, sitting on the couch. It was funny how he saw her almost every single day since she was like twelve, but he was jello when he knew that she knew that he was dating her mother.

"Luke, you know, I'm not minding this…okay?"

"huh? What? Oh… yeah, well…"

"Seriously, we've all been waiting for it for quite some time, so I'm already okay with the idea."

"Quite some time, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, me too, so I'll try not to mess this up, okay?" he tells her, sitting down next to Lorelai, and squeezing her hand to show his sincerity.

"Okay, cause I don't feel like having to… I don't know… buy all the vegetables so you can't get them or something like that…"

"oooh, you hear that, she'd actually buy vegetables to save her mommy. Now that's love." Lorelai pipes in with a sarcastic tone.

"It was the only thing that I could think of cause I like him too much."

Wanting to change the subject, Luke dared to ask what movie they were watching, to which Lorelai responded, "none other than the ultimate mocking movie! Spaceballs!"

"Spaceballs?"

"Yeah, it mocks like the trekkies and the Star Wars fans and stuff. Since I had an exhausting week, my mocking skills are a bit rusty and a little tired, so we figured that we would get a movie that succeeded in mocking another movie to get a complete mocking fix."

"None of that made much sense, but that's okay. Let's watch the movie."

Rory pressed play and the three started to enjoy the movie together, Luke being quite clueless, since he wasn't the biggest movie person in the entire world. Halfway through, Lorelai decided that she needed a pillow, and attempted to lean on Luke.

Wincing when the left side of her face hit his chest, she asked, "Can you move to the other side of the couch?"

"What?"

"Well, I want to use you as my pillow, but I can't lay on this half of my face, so I want you to move to the other side so that I can lean on you."

"Well, I think that I can manage that." he says smiling at her.

When the movie was over, they started into another one right away. After that, however, Lorelai had fallen asleep. Noticing this, Luke turned to watch her sleep for a few minutes, reaching up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear, careful to not hit her bruise.

Rory had seen all of this in the corner of her eye, and certain that Luke was focused on her mother, she turned to take in the whole picture. _It is so amazing to see them like this, all about each other and no one else. The look in his eyes when he's watching her sleep is enough to melt any woman who wants to be in love, and it's all towards my mother. _At that thought, she notices him falter and wince a bit when pushing the hair off of her face, revealing the bruise from the past weeks events more fully.

"Thank you Luke." Rory says, recalling these same events.

He turns to look at her with a surprising glance, almost forgetting that she was even in the room for a moment. "For what?"

"For being there for her this week with all of this Jason stuff."

"By now, I think that you know that even if she and I weren't together, I would be there for your mother _and_ you anytime that you need it."

"I know that Luke, but thank you anyways."

"Well, you're welcome."

"Can I thank you for something else?" she says, not really looking at him.

"Uh… yeah, sure."

"Thank you for loving her the way that you do."

"Has it always been that obvious?" he asks, looking back down at her sleeping form sprawled out on top of him.

"Probably only to me… she was clueless the whole time." she pauses for a moment, "but you were just as clueless to the fact that she was loving you just as much all these years, so I guess that you're even." she finishes, finally looking up to catch his eye.

Smiling, he replies, "Thanks Rory."

They finish watching the movie, with Luke gazing at Lorelai for a few moments every now and then, and Rory catching each of those small interactions.

An hour later, the movie was over, and Lorelai was still fast asleep.

"What should we do with her?"

"Just leave her on the couch… she's slept there plenty of times, so she'll be fine."

"Okay, then I guess I'll just get out from the grip of sleeping beauty here and be on my way."

"I'm sure that we'll see you tomorrow Luke, have a good night."

Rory retreats to her bedroom with the intention of reading for a few minutes and then falling into a peaceful slumber. Before that though, she decides to grab a glass of water for her bedside table and wanders into the kitchen. With a quick glance to the living room, she sees that her mother is no longer on the couch, but in the arms of Luke, being carried up the stairs.

She quietly climbs the stairs with the intention of telling Luke that he should just stay the night, when she hears her mother wake up.

"Luke?"

"yeah, I'm here."

"I didn't get to finish the movie…" she says in a groggy voice.

"No you didn't, but that's okay, cause you and Rory can watch it again tomorrow, okay?"

"mmhmm… Luke?"

"Yes, Lorelai?"

"How did I get up here?"

"I carried you."

"Wow, so manly of you."

She hears him laugh a quiet laugh, and dares to take a glance into her mother's bedroom, seeing Luke kneeling beside Lorelai's bedside. After a few moments, she sees that her mother is most definitely asleep again. With this, Luke leans down to whisper something to her.

"I love you Lorelai, and I always will…"

He stands up to leave the room and Rory plasters herself up against the wall, not wanting Luke to know that she saw the exchange, when her mother's voice breaks through the quiet house.

"Luke?"

He turns without a word to face her.

"I don't really think that I've ever done this and meant it until now, but I love you too…"

_It's like a fairy tale, and she finally found her prince charming. I'll be the first to say that Luke has always been perfect for my mother from the beginning, even if she didn't realize it. He's always been the one to be there for us, and he's always been someone that I considered a father figure. Hearing this though, I don't think that anything could have made me love him more than I do right now. _She quietly steps back down the stairs, turning off the lights as she goes through the house, and going to the door to lock it for the evening.

Luke wasn't going to leave tonight, and she was okay with that. Rules were made to be broken.

_Really Really corny... I know...but I really couldn't help it! So, I know this one was short, but I don't know what to do with it yet... I mean, I have some ideas, but I don't want to do the same old same old stuff, you know what I mean? Well, I'll be brainstorming, but in the meantime, please read and review to let me know what you think!_


	10. There's a Boy in My Bed

Lorelai attempted to shift in bed as the sun began to come into the window of her bedroom, but she was met with an arm squeezing tightly around her. _What? Who is… Luke…Luke is in my bed with his arms around me…There is a boy in my bed and I am completely okay with this._ As she is thinking to herself, she snuggles in closer to his embrace.

A few short hours later, she is brought out of sleep by her daughter at her side.

"Mom?"

Confused because Luke was still there and it felt like it was incredibly early to be waking up, she opens her eyes just enough to make out Rory's shape.

"Rory? What are you doing?"

At the sound of Lorelai's voice, Luke is then stirred from sleep.

"Lorelai? Rory? What's going on, it feels early…" he glances at the clock that reads 8:00 "it is early… at least for a Sunday… what's up?"

"Mom, Grandpa's on the phone… he said it's something about the lawyer being stupid…" Rory says, throwing the phone towards her mother and sleepily walking back down the stairs.

_Why would he call me so early? _"Dad?"

"_Lorelai! Good morning!"_

"Maybe for you… me not so much… Dad, why are you calling so early?"

"_Early? Lorelai 8:00 in the morning isn't that early? What do you do with your days?"_

"Well, on Sundays, I usually sleep until noon and drag myself to Luke's for brunch, and then put my pajamas on again and watch TV all day… none of these things involve any effort… like getting up at 8:00 in the morning to talk on the phone!"

"_Well, I apologize for waking you up this early, but this is a sort of pressing matter… it's about Jason."_

Sitting up in bed, and wiping her eyes, she glances over to see Luke still asleep in bed next to her. _He looks so good there…OH my GOD! Rory… and Luke… and my bed… and the house… and the rules…_

"_Lorelai? Lorelai!"_

"Yeah dad, what's up?"

"_Have you been listening to a word that I've just said?"_

"Honestly, no I haven't, because it's too early for me to form a coherent thought…now what is going on?"

"Well, they want to put it to trial…" 

"What! They can't do that, can they?"

"_Well, Jason's lawyer seems to think that what you did by putting him in jail has tarnished his reputation forever…"_

"I'm sorry, but Jason being an asshole tarnished Jason's reputation forever!" she says, getting out of bed, and padding her way down the stairs.

"_Lorelai, he wants to sue for damages because he doesn't think he did anything to you."_

"What? Like hell he didn't! Luke was here, he saw what an ass Jason was… can I make up a welt on my face that size? No… I can't… Where the hell does he—"

"_Lorelai, I know this… which is why I think that you really should take him to trial with this whole thing…Luke can testify, and that neighbor of yours… didn't she see Jason the next morning?"_

"Well, yeah, but I didn't want this to get this big… can I think about it?"

"_Why don't you think about it and let me know what you would like to do tomorrow?"_

"That sounds good…Dad?"

"_Yes Lorelai?"_

"Thanks…"

"_Goodbye Lorelai."_ And with that he hangs up the phone.

So Jason wants everyone to think that I'm the crazy one here? He comes to my house and gets all green-eyed-monster on me and then blames it on me? Selfish prick…And why did I come down here? Oh, Rory… and the whole man in house thing…

She knocks softly on Rory's door and is met with a muffled grunt of acknowledgment from her daughter. Carefully she opens the door and moves to sit on the edge of her daughter's bed.

"Hey Rory?"

"What?"

"Rory?"

"Mom, what do you want… it's early?"

"Sit up for a second and talk to me…?" she says, in an almost pleading voice.

Rory sits up and tucks her covers around her again to keep warm and looks and her mother with an annoyed but expectant glare. "Yes?"

"So…there's a boy in my bed."

"And?"

"Well… there's a boy in my bed."

"Yeah, and it's Luke… you like Luke!"

"But this isn't normal…"

"Mom… if you are down here because you think that I'm weirded out by this whole thing, then go back upstairs, cause I'm not. I don't even live here anymore, so it doesn't really matter." She says scooting back down into bed.

"It does too matter… cause it matters to me what you think." She says tapping Rory on the knee.

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"yes…" she says, almost appearing scared about what her daughter might say to her about the matter.

"okay…sooo… when was the last time there was a boy in the house… like overnight…in your bed?"

"Max." she said with a nod.

"okay… and when did you let Max stay the night?"

"after we were engaged…" _I'm not really getting where she's going with this._

"it was weird though wasn't it?"

"yeah? Point being?"

"Was it weird having Luke here last night?"

"No."

"Think about that for a minute."

"I don't get it…"

"Mom, you and Luke have been "meant to be" since the first cup of coffee he served you. We've all known it all along, and it took the two of you FOREVER to realize it. He is the only guy that you have EVER let stay here aside from the man that you were going to marry, and even that was weird to you. Luke however, was as normal as 5 cups of coffee before being coherent in the morning."

She was sooo right about it all…Luke being here was the most natural thing in the world…and I loved it. I think part of me has had a thing for him so long, but I think that we just had to wait for the right time.

"I saw you guys last night too… no dirtiness, but I saw you after he carried you upstairs, and mom I don't think that I have ever seen someone love you so much…or you him… so if you're worried about me being weirded out by this whole thing, then you've got to know that I love Luke about as much as you do, cause he's Luke, and I don't think that anything could make me happier then seeing the two of you finally together."

"First of all… there was no dirtiness… I don't know why you and Sookie think about that all the time… climb out of it folks! And most importantly… thanks Rory." She finally gets her words in and hugs her only daughter.

After a few minutes, Lorelai makes her way out of the bed with the intention of getting back into her own bed.

"hey… wait, where are you going?" Rory says, confused at her mother's departure.

"Do you really think I'd sleep down here with you, little miss bony butt, when I have a man up there that gives off real body heat?"

"ewww…I don't want to be thinking about Luke's body heat!" she says throwing her covers up over her head as she burrows back into her bed.

Laughing at her daughter, she makes her way back up to her bedroom to find a sleeping Luke still curled up on his side. _He's beautiful in the morning. Of course I could never tell him that, cause he would yell at me and tell me that beautiful wasn't the way to describe a man. He is though. _I crawl back into bed and I'm quickly met with an arm tightening around my waist.

"Good morning…"

"Not yet friend, we still get a few more hours of sleep."

"Where did you go?"

"To talk to Rory."

"About what?" he says in a still groggy voice.

"You and me and you here… you know you're the only guy that I've slept in this bed with right?"

"No, I didn't know that…what did Rory have to say about this whole thing… is she feeling weird about it?"

"No… she told me that she loved you about as much as I do… so that's saying a lot."

"Well you tell her the feeling's mutual…"

"Luke… my dad—"

"Sleep now, talk later."

"I love you Luke."

Without a real response, he pulls her closer and the pair falls back asleep until they really have to start their day.

_Wow… so long time no update…I apologize. School has gotten absolutely crazy, but yeah. Rorely, if you actually read this, the little "climb out of it" was for you. Anyways… I have a feeling I know where I want this to go, but R/R and let me know what you think._


	11. Tarnished Reputations

You never realize how great sleep is until you're sleeping in the arms of a man that you love. Luke must have been tired after our movie night, not used to staying up so late, and getting woken up by the phone call this morning, because he was a big fan of sleeping this morning. It afforded Lorelai with the pleasure of getting to watch him sleep though, which was something that she was certainly not willing to turn down anytime soon. _God, he's gorgeous. Again, I can't tell him that because gorgeous is a girly word… at least he thinks so. Man… this really is weird, but only because it isn't weird. I can't believe that this was right under my nose the whole time. This not weirdness of a relationship… it's weird. Okay, I need coffee…_

"Lukey…" she says in a sing-song voice.

"hmmph…"

"Well Mr. grumpy diner man, I'm glad that you've added something to the conversation… can you wake up please?"

"Why?"

"Because the love of your life is in bed next to you…"

"Yeah right…" he says, turning around to face her and open one eye.

"What?"

"It's because the love of my life wants me to make my way down to the kitchen and make coffee and bring it back up to bed so she doesn't have to get up."

After he closes his eyes again for a minute, she starts in again.

"Lukey….." again in the sing-song voice.

"Fine… I'm up, but don't think I'm gonna like it."

Sitting up in bed she starts to shake her head as he's putting on his pair of jeans and his t-shirt from the night before.

"What are you shaking your head at?"

"Just the fact that I can get you to do anything that I want and you haven't even seen me naked yet."

"Yeah, well…. Only a few days in and I'm already rethinking the situation..."

"LUKE! You are not supposed to be the cranker butt in the morning… you get up at like 4AM… why am I a ray of sunshine, and you are acting like someone stuck something where the sun doesn't shine?"

He turns to her with a gentle expression on his face and he cradles her cheek in his hand. "Ah, but you didn't let me finish the thought! I'm already rethinking the situation and have decided that it's exactly how I want to wake up every morning."

"Well then… since you feel like that… then…"

"Yes, I will get up and get your coffee."

Throwing her arms up in the air in an act that screamed of victory, she fell back onto the bed as Luke got up.

As he pads down the stairs he notices Rory's bedroom door open and peeks inside to see her still fast asleep. _That is one good kid. I knew I had the approval I guess, but it's good to know that she loves me just as much as I love her._

He starts making coffee and hears a creak from the opening of Rory's door and turns to see her walking into the kitchen. Not really acknowledging his presence, she sits down at the table in the kitchen, puts her head in her hands and groans.

"Man, your mom isn't joking when she says that you two need coffee to live." he says sitting down across from Rory, waiting for the coffee to brew.

"I've only slept like three hours…me and coffee need to have a moment this morning." she replies, finally looking at him.

"Why did you only sleep three hours? I thought you went to bed about the same time that we did."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't that tired, so I decided to start reading one of my novels for class, and well… starting it turned into reading three-quarters of the way through it."

"I see."

"Yeah, I fell asleep when I was on page 347… well at least I think so, cause that's where I found the drool mark."

Pushing up away from the table, he grabs a mug from the cupboard and sets it in front of Rory.

"Mom is right… you are an angel."

"Yeah, well, I try."

"How'd you sleep?" she asks, making small talk while the coffee is finishing up.

"Well aside from your grandpa calling, it was probably one of the best sleeps I've had in a while."

_It's so weird to see him here… but in the not weird kind of way, because it feels like he's supposed to be here. I can tell that he's not sure exactly what to do about this whole situation though, cause he still can't look me in the eye. _"Luke?"

"Yeah Rory?" he replies, still not really looking at me, but choosing to focus on the coffee maker.

"Luke, look at me?"

Finally, he turns to face her and gets a sheepish grin on his face. "I'm not really sure how to… well… I'm not very good with this whole relationship thing… and…"

"You have to know that I have watched the two of you skate around each other for years, and I'm so glad that you finally woke up and saw what was right in front of you."

"Yeah, well…" _I don't think that even she knows how much I love her mother. Yeah, I've probably always liked Lorelai, but I don't think that it was until recently that I thought that I loved her, and even then I was too chicken to do anything about it. There is so much on the line with this that it's sickening and exciting at the same time. _"Rory?"

Sitting back and tapping the top of her coffee mug, she glances up at him, "yeah Luke?"

"I just… I don't want to screw this up, okay?"

"You won't. Even when you guys were just friends and messed with each other's heads or got in fights, you always made up. You can't stay away from each other. I'm telling you, it's meant to be."

With that, he smiles and looks over at the coffee maker, which seems to be finished with it's job. "Coffee?"

She lifts her mug up to him in response and he grabs the pot to fill her up.

"Thanks Rory."

"No problem…"

After he makes a mug for Lorelai, he makes his way up to the bedroom, where he finds her sitting up in bed as awake as can be.

"Here is your death…" he says with a monotone saved only for talking about her and her coffee addiction.

"Well, I've got to say that you're the sexiest Grim Reaper I've ever seen…so… my Dad called this morning." She says, pushing a stand of hair nervously behind her ear.

"Yeah, if you remember, I was here when he called."

"Oh, yeah, that was you…I couldn't remember which boyfriend it was…"

"Funny… so what did he tell you?"

"Well, he said that Jason's lawyers are trying to get a trial going because he claims that he didn't really do anything…"

"Sure, and let's see them explain this!" he says gesturing to her cheek, which had taken on a very interesting shade of yellowing green reserved only for those really nasty bruises.

"Is it really bad today?"

Pushing another piece of hair out of her face he examines the healing welt. "No, it's actually getting a lot better, but you can still see it pretty well. We should take pictures of it while it's still visible."

"Rory and I actually did that… she thought that it would be smart in case Jason pulled something like he's pulling right now. But, Luke, my dad said that I should ask you about testifying, and I know that he knows that you were here through a lot of what happened for me, but I don't think that you should."

"Lorelai, I'm going to testify, because I was here, I saw the welt as it was forming, and I was here when the nut came back to harass you."

"But, Luke!"

"No arguments! Tell you're dad that I'm completely in on this."

She smiles over at him and while blushing looks back into her coffee mug. After a few minutes of silence, the expression on her face changes to reveal a bit of anger. "You know he had the balls to say that what I did caused his name to be tarnished in the community."

"Yeah, well, I would say that him being an asshole is what cause his reputation to be tarnished."

With a small giggle, she met his eyes with hers shining.

"What?"

"Luke, either we really are meant to be together, or you have spent WAY too much time with me over the years."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that's exactly what I told my father this morning when he told me that."

"Well… I like to think that it's a combination of the two."

"Yeah…me too."

_So there it is… I'll add some more chapters later, but I wanted to update both fics tonight! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sure I'll be hearing from some of you! Thanks for reading!_


	12. A Minor Temper Tantrum

A FEW WEEKS LATER

"Lorelai, I'd like you to meet Charlie Hamrick. He's going to be helping us out for this incident."

"Oh, well, thank you. It's nice to finally put the face to the voice from the telephone. Oh, and this is Luke Danes." she says, shaking his hand and then gesturing to Luke, who stood beside her.

"Mr. Danes, I want to thank you for coming down here and agreeing to testify on Miss Gilmore's behalf."

Shaking his hand, he replies, "Well this Jason guy is a real jerk, and I would do just about anything for Lorelai."

"I'm going to call you to the stand first and ask you a few questions, and then his lawyer is going to ask you a few questions. You just have to be relaxed and tell him all that you remember. How does that sound?"

"Well, it sounds pretty good if we can do something to this guy."

"Luke, I'm going to have you up on the stand first after I present to him your neighbor's signed statement. Which, by the way, thank you for getting for me…I'm sorry that she couldn't be here today."

"Well, the gnomes can't wait."

"Pardon me?"

"She and her husband went to a garden show featuring different gnomes from around the world." she says, with the most serious face that Lorelai could ever make.

"That is why she couldn't make it?" he asks with a confused look on his face.

"Mr. Hamrick, while it sounds odd, you'd have to understand Stars Hallow to fully understand the importance of a good garden gnome to Babette." Luke chimes in, always willing to show the craziness of the town.

"I will take your word on that Mr. Danes"

LATER IN THE COURTROOM

"So, she came into the diner, and sat down at the counter?"

"Yes."

"Then what?"

"Well, she wasn't talking at all, which for Lorelai is a rare occurance. Finishing like half of her coffee, she stands up to leave and I knew that something was wrong."

"Why would you say that?"

"Lorelai has never left a half-full cup sitting at my diner unless there was something wrong. And the way she was carrying herself wasn't right."

"How do you mean?"

"She is the most confident woman that I've ever meant, standing tall, not letting anyone get her down. That night, she was slumped, and she couldn't even meet anyone's eye."

"So, you approached her?"

"Yeah, I put a hand on her shoulder as she was walking out, and she turned to me, finally meeting my eye, and starts to break down. So, I told my grill guy that I would be back, and I took her upstairs to my apartment above the diner."

"And what happened up there?"

"She told me what happened with Jason…" Luke starts the story that Lorelai told him, pausing a moment here or there while remembering how hurt she was when she told him what happened.

"And she left, but promised that she would call if she needed me."

"You're a good friend Mr. Danes."

"She's a wonderful woman, and she needed someone."

"Yes, she did. She called you that next morning, didn't she?"

"I got a call earlier in the morning from Lorelai telling me to come quickly and telling me that she needed me. I told my waitress to call the cops and proceeded to run over to Lorelai's to find out what was going on."

"What did you find when you got there?"

"Jason Stiles" he says through clenched teeth.

"What was he doing?"

"He was harassing her basically, telling her that she was making a big mistake, and that he should get another chance."

"Did you get physical with Mr. Stiles?"

"No, he tried to rush me, but the police came right then, so it never got physical."

"Thank you Mr. Danes, I appreciate you being here today." Charles says while sitting down once again.

The judge makes a small gesture to Jason's lawyer, telling him that the witness was now his.

"Mr. Danes, how long have you known Miss Gilmore?" he asks for his first question.

"Nearly eight years."

"You come from a small community, am I correct?"

"Stars Hallow is quaint, yes."

"Does Miss Gilmore have many friends?"

"Everyone gets along with Lorelai… except for Taylor, but he doesn't get along with anyone."

"So, answer this Mr. Danes… why did Miss Gilmore choose to come to you that evening?"

"Lorelai and I have been friends for a long time, and she knows that I will always look out for her."

"So, it wasn't because you were romantically involved."

"No."

"Mr. Danes, you forgot one part of this small equation."

"And what is that?"

"Are you involved with Miss Gilmore?"

"By involved you mean, am I seeing her?"

"Yes."

"Then, yes, she and I are dating."

"So you were the cause of the separation of my client and Miss Gilmore."

"No."

"Well, you're dating aren't you?"

"Yes."

"How long have you been "together"" he says, allowing his fingers to make airquotes as he talks to his witness.

"Since the morning that jerk came to Lorelai's harassing her." he says angrily, pointing in Jason's direction.

"Now now, Mr. Danes, you are under oath. Were you and Miss Gilmore involved while she and Mr. Stiles were dating?"

"No, we were not."

The lawyer appears flustered then, turning to Jason with a questioning look in his eye.

"Had you ever met Mr. Stiles before that day, Mr. Danes?"

"No, I had not."

"According to both Miss Gilmore and Mr. Stiles, they dated for quite sometime… nearly half a year, and you never met him?"

"No."

"Being in such close acquaintance with Miss Gilmore, that seems a bit odd to me. Are you sure you never met Mr. Stiles before this?"

"Lorelai and I have always kept our relationships out of our relationship. We don't really talk about dating or other romantic involvements, so I hadn't heard much about this Jason guy."

"What had you heard, Mr. Danes?"

"She told me that she was seeing some guy, actually, I was the one who figured out that she was seeing someone, she didn't really tell me."

"How did you "figure it out"?"

"She was always dressed up all that time, and I made a comment about that, and she admitted that she had been seeing someone."

"I see. Well, that is all Mr. Danes."

As the lawyer took a seat, you could see him get aggravated with Jason. Their plan to make Jason out as a good guy that would never do anything was foiled. The lawyer figured that if Lorelai had talked about how wonderful Jason was to Luke, then they could prove to the judge that it really was a strong, healthy relationship, and that he wouldn't have done anything like that to Lorelai.

After a short recess, they came back in and Jason was called to the stands. His lawyer stood up, and began his questioning, of course making Jason out to be a saint. Mr. Hamrick was determined to change that.

"Mr. Stiles, why did you and my client have a falling out?"

"I don't know. I thought that things were going great between us, and then she stopped returning my calls."

"According to Miss Gilmore, you are in a lawsuit against her father, is that correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"According to Miss Gilmore, she informed you that she did not want to be in a relationship with someone that was suing a member of her family. Is this true?"

"Yes, but it was never officially broken off."

"What do you mean by officially?"

"She walked out on me and stopped returning my phone calls. She didn't tell me flat out that she didn't want to be together any more." He says, his voice elevating in pitch.

"Mr. Stiles, you appear to be a bit upset, are you?"

"Upset that I never officially broke up with a woman and find out that she's dating someone else, yes."

"Did you call her often after the day that you told her you were suing her father?"

"I wouldn't say that often, but I did call her."

"Though it can't be proven after the fact, my client says that she turned her phone off because of your insistence."

"I wanted her back."

"Enough to go to her house."

"Yes."

"Enough to break into her house?"

"I didn't break into her house, I knew where the spare key was."

"Mr. Stiles, did Miss Gilmore know that you were going to be there?"

"No."

"Did you think that she would accept you being there?"

"It was the only way to get her to hear me!" he yelled.

As silence filled the courtroom, Charlie smiled. This was exactly the temper tantrum that he needed to show the judge.

"Mr. Stiles, before I let you go sit back down, I'd like to show you some pictures that Miss Gilmore's daughter took after the incident." He brings the pictures up to Jason, who dismisses them.

"I didn't do that, she did it herself."

"What hand do you write with Mr. Stiles?"

"My right."

"You can sit down Mr. Stiles." He says, and then submits the photos to the judge to examine.

The judge asks for a recess, saying that he didn't need to hear any more.

HOURS LATER

"Well, how do you feel?"

"I don't know exactly. I'm glad that he got punished, but sorry that it wasn't that horrible of a punishment."

"Oh, believe me, a man with that kind of pride and ego is certainly punished by having to pick up trash on the side of the highway. If his so-called reputation wasn't tarnished before now, it certainly will be." Richard says, with a smile on his face.

Lorelai laughs, and shakes Charlie's hand. As Luke and Charlie exchange thank yous and shake hands, Richard puts a hand on Lorelai's shoulder, guiding her away from the pair.

"Lorelai, I'm sorry for everything that happened."

"Dad, you can't possibly think that you had anything to do with this."

"Well, if all of that hadn't happened between Jason and I, then it wouldn't have caused all that tension between the two of you, so I apologize for that."

"While I think it's nice of you to apologize, there is no need."

Looking down, he starts to seem very uncomfortable, stepping into this unfamiliar territory with his daughter. "I don't know what I would have done if he would have done worse, Lorelai."

"But he didn't dad, he didn't." she says, looking up at him with watery eyes.

A bit awkwardly, he pulls his daughter into a hug, for once letting emotion get the best of him. _Where did we go wrong with her? She turned into this wonderful woman, and I can't say that I helped her with any of it. _"I'm proud of how you handled this, Lorelai." He says, giving her a last squeeze before separating.

"Thanks, dad."

Luke and Charlie had now made their way back over to Richard and Lorelai, Luke putting a hand out to bid Lorelai's father goodbye. "Mr. Gilmore, thank you for helping out with this."

"And thank you, Luke, for being here on my daughter's behalf."

"Always."

After goodbyes had been exchanged, Luke's hand found Lorelai's, and the two walked out hand in hand.

As they made their way down the courthouse steps, they saw a familiar face, making their way up to greet them.

"Mom…"

_Random… Seriously. This is by far the worst chapter, but I needed to get the court part out of the way, and I wanted to rub it in Jason's face again that he was a jerk. Anyways… I promise that the next one will be better. I'm working on my other fics at the same time, so my brain is kinda going crazy at like fifty thousand miles an hour. Also, for those of you that haven't checked it out, you need to all subscribe to the Gilmore Girls Podcast! Go to for more info, but I found it and I love it! The people that run it are cool, so check it out. Before that, though… please review if you feel like it!_


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